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August 2, 2010

Your monthly pass to world-class public transportation and more wonderful, walkable communities.

Something happened on Wednesday that means that 25 years from now we will enjoy a Bay Area and California rich with exceptional public transportation, safe streets for walking and biking, and a wonderful mix of homes, shops, and services that serve people of all incomes and stages of life.

If the State accepts this recommendation next month as it moves ahead with implementing SB 375, it could spur big increases in terms of how much the region invests in everything from pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure to public transportation improvements – and keep us from a fate of more sprawl, congestion, and pollution – plus a crippling cost of living.

Oakland Airport Connector moves ahead, but it's not too late for decisionmakers to rethink this risky project

Spread the word on two great jobs!

Party in the name of bikes on August 4 in Berkeley

Attend the Transbay Transit Center groundbreaking August 11

September 15 summit on public transportation’s role in ensuring access to health care and

Lunchtime forum at SPUR features GreenTRIP September 22

Tell Senator Boxer to deliver the transportation bill we need

For nearly a year, Congress has dragged their feet in moving ahead with a new federal transportation bill. Finally, some movement is happening – with Senator Boxer at the helm of the powerful Environment and Public Works Committee writing the bill. Senator Boxer fought hard to make clean transportation a key part of the federal climate bill (which is currently stalled). Now we need her to bring this same energy to the transportation bill so it breaks with the past and dramatically shifts funds towards public transportation, smart growth, and repairing our aging roads and bridges. Email Senator Boxer now.

Oakland Airport Connector moves ahead, but it's not too late for decisionmakers to rethink this risky project

BART continues to move forward with the $500,000,000 Oakland Airport Connector despite their staff confirming the truth TransForm recently uncovered: project shortfalls could mean service cuts and fare hikes for existing BART riders. Plus, we uncovered that the technology BART chose for the project doesn’t meet BART’s own technology requirements!

Three more agencies will have a chance to take a hard look at this boondoggle and decide whether to provide funding for a slow, financially-risky tram that will drop its passengers in an existing parking lot rather than the actual airport.

TransForm will soon release an independent analysis conducted by a nationally renowned transportation planning firm, Kittleson Associates. Their study will be the first that compares the proposed project and existing AirBART service to a Bus Rapid Transit alternative.

Spread the word on two great jobs!

TransForm is hiring a part-time Safe Routes to Schools Site Coordinator to engage parents, schools, and cities in getting thousands more kids walking and biking to school in Alameda County. The Union of Concerned Scientists also has an opening for a part-time organizer for the No on Prop. 23 campaign, a critical effort to protect California’s climate pollution law.

Attend the Transbay Transit Center groundbreaking August 11

For more than a decade, TransForm has pushed for something we feel is a critical piece of a truly regional public transportation system: a “Grand Central Station of the West” in San Francisco. In the years since, we’ve worked with SPUR and other groups to build support for the Transbay Transit Center, and now it’s time to celebrate the groundbreaking for this incredible transit-oriented development project! Witness a big moment for public transportation on August 11 at 10 a.m. on the crescent on Mission Street in front of the existing Transbay Terminal for the official groundbreaking ceremony.

September 15 summit on public transportation’s role in ensuring access to health care and social services

The Bay Area’s Metropolitan Transportation Commission will host a free regional summit that’s open to the public on September 15 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 101 Eighth Street in Oakland focused on how better decisions about the location of public transportation and services makes a big difference in whether people are able to really access health care and support systems. Contact Therese Trivedi at MTC with questions.

Lunchtime forum at SPUR features GreenTRIP September 22

GreenTRIP, TransForm's cutting-edge new program, certifies residential and mixed-use developments that keep the number of new parking spaces as low as possible and offer incentives for new tenants to drive less and own fewer vehicles. Learn about GreenTRIP and hear from developers whose projects we have deemd “GreenTRIP-certified” at 12 p.m. on September 22 at the San Francisco Planning + Urban Research Association.